Shelf bracket for panelled walls

ABSTRACT

A wooden construction is disclosed comprising a bracket supported by a single screw in a grooved vertical standard. The groove prevents the bracket from twisting on the screw. Screw holes are provided at intervals in the bottom of the groove so that the bracket may be shifted up or down on the standard. Portions of the groove not occupied by the bracket are filled by a filler strip. The back side of the standard has a central tongue to fit between the edges of two adjacent wall panels whereby the standard also serves as a molding strip to cover the joint between the panels.

United States Patent l 13,574,980

[72] Inventor James R. Keller [56] Ref ren e Cited m A I No gg zggUNITED STATES PATENTS f 5 1969 538,958 5/1895 Fletcher 248/235 [45]Patented Apr. 3 1971 3,193,885 7/1965 Gartner et al 52/36 [73] AssigneeWoodcarve lroducts, lnc. FOREIGN F ,A TENTS p m m 13,765 /l889 GreatBritain 287/2092 Confinuaflomimpm of application sen No. 155,268 7/1956Sweden 248/235 758,824, p 1968, now abandoned- Primary Examiner-EdwardC. Allen Assistant Examiner-J Franklin Foss Attorney-Lee R. SchermerhornABSTRACT: A wooden construction is disclosed comprising 1 SHELF BRACKETFOR PANELLED WALLS a bracket supported by a single screw in a groovedvertical 2 Claims, 4 Drawing g standard. The groove prevents the bracketfrom twisting on the screw. Screw holes are provided at'intervals in thebottom U.S. of the groove so that the bracket may be up or down on52/468 108/108 248/243, 287/20-92 the standard. Portions of the groovenot occupied by the [51] Int. Cl A47g 29/02 bracket are filled by afiller strip. The back side of the [50] Field of Search 248/235,standard has a central tongue to fit between the edges of two 241, 243,239,248,247; 108/106, 107, 108, 109; adjacent wall panels whereby thestandard also serves as a 287/2092; 52/36, 468 molding strip to coverthe joint between the panels.

Patented April 13, 1971 INVENTOR.

fliiorney SHELF BRACKET FOR PANELLED WALLS CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of my copendingapplication, Ser. No. 758,824, filed Sept. 10, I968, on Adjustable ShelfBracket" now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvedconstruction for an adjustable shelf bracket made of wood.

Wood construction, although more attractive and desirable for manypurposes, has become largely supplanted by metal construction because ofthe decreasing cost of metal fabrication and the increasing cost of woodfabrication. For this reason, shelf brackets are usually made of metal.A need exists for wooden shelf brackets to harmonize with wooden wallpanelling and wood cabinets.

Objects of the invention are, therefore, to provide an improvedadjustable shelf bracket of wooden construction, to provide aneconomical form of wooden construction which is competitive in pricewith metal, to provide a wooden shelf bracket and supporting standardwhich can be made in quantity by pantograph type wood carving machines,to provide a standard for a shelf bracket which may be used as a moldingstrip to cover a vertical joint between adjacent wall panels and toprovide a wooden shelf bracket which is attractive in appearance, sturdyand solid, readily adjustable and which requires but a single screw formounting it on the standard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present construction involves simply twovertical standards, two horizontal brackets and two wood screws. Theface side of each standard is provided with a vertical groove to fit thebase end of the bracket and prevent the bracket from twisting on itssingle supporting screw. The groove is provided with screw holes atintervals for vertical adjustment of the bracket and a filler strip isprovided to fill portions of the groove not occupied by the bracket. Theback of the standard has a tongue to fit between adjacent wall panelswhereby the standard may serve as a molding strip to cover the jointbetween the panels.

The wood shaping operations on the parts may be performed on a number ofpieces simultaneously by a pantograph type wood carving machine wherebythe cost of the bracket and the standard may be made competitive withlow cost metal equipment. The wood parts are more attractive for use inthe home, office and other purposes than are metal parts, since the woodmay be finished to harmonize with wood panelling, cabinets andfurnishings in the room.

The invention will be better understood and still other objects andadvantages will become apparent from the following description of thepreferred embodiment illustrated on the accompanying drawing. Variouschanges may be made in the details of construction and arrangement ofparts and certain features may be used without others. All suchmodifications within the scope of the appended claims are included inthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view showingshelves supported on adjustable shelf brackets embodying the principlesof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of one of the standards and bracketswith parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1, the presentconstruction comprises a pair of vertical standards and pairs ofhorizontal brackets 11 to support the shelves 12. The face side of eachstandard 10 is provided with a vertical groove 13 of rectangular crosssection. The groove 13 has a flat bottom surface 15 and flat sidesurfaces 16 perpendicular to the surface 15. Groove 13 is of a width toreceive the thickness of bracket 11, the base end of the bracket beingseated in the groove.

Inclined screw holes 17 are drilled at intervals in the groove bottomsurface 15 and a larger inclined screw hole 18 is drilled in bracket 11to receive screw 20. The outer end of hole 18 is counterbored at 21 inthe top surface of the bracket to receive the head of the screw.Counterbore 21 fomts a shoulder 22 under the screw head whereby the baseend 23 of the bracket is clamped firmly against groove bottom surface15.

Standards 10 may be made with a flat and tongueless back side formounting in a bookcase, cabinet or on a wall surface as desired. Suchmounting may be accomplished by additional screws 24 in horizontal screwholes 25 in the bottom of groove 13 or by other suitable means. Bracket11 may be raised or lowered by merely shifting screw 20 to anappropriate one of the holes 17. The inner end 23 of the bracket seatsagainst groove bottom surface 15 and the lateral groove surfaces 16 holdthe bracket in stable position and prevent it from twisting on the screwwithout the necessity of a second screw. Counterbore 21 emerges throughthe top surface of the bracket and serves to countersink the head of thescrew. Shelf 12 may be screwed to bracket 11, left unattached or securedby other suitable means.

In the present embodiment, the back side of standard 10 is provided witha longitudinal tongue 30 to fit between adjacent edges of wall panels 31whereby the standard 10 serves as a molding strip to cover the verticaljoint between the panels. The screws 23 then secure the standard 10directly to wall stud 32. After standard 10 has been mounted andbrackets 11 adjusted to desired position, filler strips 35 are insertedin exposed portions of the groove 13. These filler strips cover theheads of screws 24 and the screw holes 17 and impart a neat and trimappearance to the structure. The filler strips are preferably secured inplace by a suitable adhesive. Shelf brackets are seldom changed inposition after initial adjustment but readjustment presents no problemas the filler strips 35 may be readily pried out of grooves 13 to permitshifting the brackets up or down when desired.

The shaping operations on the standards and brackets may be performedsimultaneously on a plurality of pieces by machines having a gang ofcutters to effect an economy over the conventional woodworking method ofmaking one piece at a time. Holes 17 may be drilled by a machine whichspaces the holes accurately so that any number of the brackets 11 may bealigned horizontally on their respective standards without measuring ordrilling any holes when the brackets are installed or adjusted by theuser. This arrangement provides the same convenience of adjustabilityfound in factory built metal shelving.

Iclaim:

1. A wooden shelf bracket construction having a single screw heightadjustment comprising a longitudinally grooved vertical standard havinginclined vertically spaced screw holes in the bottom of the groove, ashelf bracket having a thickness to fit in said groove, the base end ofsaid bracket being seated in said groove, said bracket having a singleinclined screw hole therein with an upper end emergent through the topsurface of the bracket and a lower end emergent through said base end, ascrew extending through said bracket screw hole and having threadedengagement with one of said screw holes in said standard, a filler stripin portions of said groove not occupied by said bracket, horizontalscrew holes in the bottom of said groove receiving screws to secure thestandard to a wall stud, a longitudinal tongue on the opposite side ofsaid standard from said groove, and a pair of wall panels havingadjacent vertical edges abutting opposite sides of said tongue, saidstandard forming a molding strip covering the joint between said panels.v

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, said bracket screw hole havinga counterbore in its upper end to receive the head of said screw.

1. A wooden shelf bracket construction having a single screw heightadjustment comprising a longitudinally grooved vertical standard havinginclined vertically spaced screw holes in the bottom Of the groove, ashelf bracket having a thickness to fit in said groove, the base end ofsaid bracket being seated in said groove, said bracket having a singleinclined screw hole therein with an upper end emergent through the topsurface of the bracket and a lower end emergent through said base end, ascrew extending through said bracket screw hole and having threadedengagement with one of said screw holes in said standard, a filler stripin portions of said groove not occupied by said bracket, horizontalscrew holes in the bottom of said groove receiving screws to secure thestandard to a wall stud, a longitudinal tongue on the opposite side ofsaid standard from said groove, and a pair of wall panels havingadjacent vertical edges abutting opposite sides of said tongue, saidstandard forming a molding strip covering the joint between said panels.2. A construction as defined in claim 1, said bracket screw hole havinga counterbore in its upper end to receive the head of said screw.